If you have the "I am willing to help test Slashdot's New Discussion System" checked, you get two cool new features today.
First is that you get a pair of neat CSS/JS sliders in place of the old box with arrows on it. Drag them up and down and you see how many comments are available at each "threshold." Let go and the page updates to match your selection. (This widget is on the lefthand side of the page, covering up text. A horizontal version is coming soon. In the meantime, click the top right corner of the widget to make it go away, if it gets in your way.)
The other is that if a comment is hidden, it is not put into the page, to save on initial page load. The comment is then loaded on demand via Ajax. Slide the sliders to show greater-than-zero hidden comments, then reload to get a new version of the page, then drag the slider back down to reveal the hidden coments. You'll see a "Loading ... please wait" text pop up under the box as the comments load in. Same thing if you click "$n hidden comments" text to reveal the hidden comments: if they are not already loaded in, they are fetched.
Of course, none of this serves a big purpose for useperl, with its relatively tiny discussions, but on Slashdot, it should be a huge improvement.
Re:CSS buggy in safari?
pudge on 2006-12-21T21:30:51
I don't know if this is intentional, but the "thing" obscures the page. Can it be made to be part of the page?Allow me to quote myself for context (with added emphasis):This widget is on the lefthand side of the page, covering up text. A horizontal version is coming soon.
I don't know what you mean by "a part of the page" -- I assume you mean static and doesn't move? -- but that wouldn't help here, since where it is on the lefthand side would cover up something regardless. Anyway, any change like that would require additional work, which we will instead put into the horizontal version (not sure if you're familiar with it, but it is much less intrusive given our page layout here).
So yes, it's a pain until we get that done. Sorry.Re:CSS buggy in safari?
Matts on 2006-12-21T21:59:44
I mean stop making it a floating widget over the page. Put it somewhere into the main part of the page. Does it need to float? I guess it *might* help on slashdot with hundreds of comments, but frankly it's just painful this way here.Re:CSS buggy in safari?
pudge on 2006-12-21T22:10:36
I mean stop making it a floating widget over the page. Put it somewhere into the main part of the page.OK.Does it need to float? I guess it *might* help on slashdot with hundreds of comments, but frankly it's just painful this way here.Yes, but only because it is on the side of the page. It's been horizontal and floating on useperl for months, and I cannot recall a complaint about it. So when we get the horizontal version of this one working, I suspect you will find it unobtrusive.
Re:CSS buggy in safari?
Smylers on 2006-12-21T22:38:22
It's been horizontal and floating on useperl for months, and I cannot recall a complaint about it.I got irritated by the horizontal floating bar.
Firefox treats it as a separate page element, and a mouse's scroll wheel gets stuck on it: if scrolling down the page with a scroll wheel (or laptop trackpad equivalent), it stops once the floating bar is under the pointer, and I have to move the pointer down to a non-floaty part of the page before scrolling can continue.
Re:CSS buggy in safari?
Matts on 2006-12-21T22:49:02
A better alternative might be a fixed border at the top, like I use in AxKit::App::Gallery. See http://home.sergeant.org/ for an example.Re:CSS buggy in safari?
bart on 2006-12-22T20:07:18
It's been horizontal and floating on useperl for months, and I cannot recall a complaint about itI can complain, if you insist.
I refuse to use the new system, because of it.
Is that strong enough?Re:CSS buggy in safari?
pudge on 2006-12-22T20:49:51
It's strong, but it doesn't mean much. What's wrong with it?It's been horizontal and floating on useperl for months, and I cannot recall a complaint about itI can complain, if you insist.
I refuse to use the new system, because of it.
Is that strong enough?
Re:What's wrong with the new comment controller
bart on 2006-12-30T22:04:46
It's strong, but it doesn't mean much. What's wrong with it?GEe, what a question. I don't want to use it, because I don't like it one bit, and now you want me to give a detailed critique.So, what's wrong with it. It gets in the way. It's big, it's about twice as high and twice as wide than it needs to be. It's not attached to the window, nor to the document, which are the only two acceptal modes, in my book. Instead, it's floating around, with a mind of its own. There's no way to get rid of it, it's always covering something. And you can't scroll the page from under it, because it insists on scrolling with it, to the same position it was before. Where it was in the way.
You can't minimize it. You can't drag it away. The only way to get it out of the way is to close it. And then, there's no way to get it back, except by reloading the page.
It's a good contender for the price of most annoying widget, if there was such a thing, almost on par with the silly "fetch" dog in Windows, and the paperclip in MS Office.
Re:What's wrong with the new comment controller
pudge on 2006-12-31T01:57:05
Not particularly, but the point I was originally making was that I was not inclined to change it because no one was complaining. You responded you didn't like it. Well, fine, but that's not enough for me to change itIt's strong, but it doesn't mean much. What's wrong with it?GEe, what a question. I don't want to use it, because I don't like it one bit, and now you want me to give a detailed critique.... wouldn't you agree? So, what's wrong with it. It gets in the way. It's big, it's about twice as high and twice as wide than it needs to be.Much wider than it needs to be, yes. Not sure about high. (I assume you are talking about the horizontal bar that was here previously, and will return in some form, and not the current vertical one.)It's not attached to the window, nor to the document, which are the only two acceptal modes, in my book.Why?There's no way to get rid of it, it's always covering something.Not true. There is a box in the top right of the bar. Click it, it goes away. In the comment header at the top of the page, there's a "Display options" link to re-open it.The only way to get it out of the way is to close it. And then, there's no way to get it back, except by reloading the page.Oh, so when you said no way to get rid of it, you meant except to close it. But closing it is a reasonable way to get rid of it.
And you can get it back, as I noted (though I agree it's not obvious).
I see only one real criticism here: it's too big.
Re:CSS buggy in safari?
vek on 2006-12-26T19:28:44
I cannot recall a complaint about it.Could it be because not that many are using the new discussion system? Just out of curiosity, how many of the regular visitors to use.perl actually use it?
I know I don't use it purely because I don't find the old comment system particularly bad but I could be in the minority.Re:CSS buggy in safari?
pudge on 2006-12-26T19:53:15
Yes, it could. Still, I won't consider changing something no one complains about, that works fine for me.I cannot recall a complaint about it.Could it be because not that many are using the new discussion system?:-) Just out of curiosity, how many of the regular visitors to use.perl actually use it?Not sure. I don't feel like looking it up right now.I know I don't use it purely because I don't find the old comment system particularly bad but I could be in the minority.I didn't find it bad either; this is just about making it more efficient to use.
